The scarcity of our products is not a strategy on our part. Our current production cannot meet the existing demand in an exhaustive way, at least not without reducing the quality of our watches – something we refuse to do as the quality of our products must never be compromised. This level of excellence requires time, and as we have always done, we will continue to take the necessary time to ensure that all our watches not only comply with our standards of excellence, but also meet the expectations of our customers in terms of quality, reliability and robustness. Rolex does not compromise on what it takes to produce exceptional watches.
Finally, it should be noted that Rolex watches are available exclusively from official retailers, who independently manage the allocation of watches to customers.
This is my favorite part...Yes, in other words they don't display them and only keep for their best customers when not selling for profit to grey mkt dealers. If you are new to Rolex or just got a nice bonus and want to get a nice SubC, FORGET IT...
Nothing like quoting a grey mkt dealer for the article..
If you are new to Rolex or just got a nice bonus and want to get a nice SubC, FORGET IT...
That's the thing that pisses me off about this whole thing. Rolex used to be a fancy treat for a middle manager who got a promotion, or a graduation present for a rich person's kid. Now it requires either spending a nice home's worth of money on jewelry every year, or blowing your AD once a week for five years in hopes that you can be allowed to buy something.
This is a great time for Rolex, but great times don't last and they are pissing a lot of people off. A current Sub is fucking expensive at retail. How many people would buy one if it was immediately worth 20% less than MSRP upon purchase? A lot less than are currently buying -- that's for sure.
I've never thought Rolex was purposefully suppressing supply, but the official attitude seems to be "we're making them as fast as we can, but we can't control what our AD partners do with them once they're out the door." I guess it's okay for them to take that position if they're still selling everything they make, but it's still frustrating for most buyers. But it's also up to the buyers to start looking elsewhere. So far it doesn't appear that buyers are doing that, but maybe Rolex releasing this statement indicates at least a hint of worry on their part.
I've never thought Rolex was purposefully suppressing supply, but the official attitude seems to be "we're making them as fast as we can, but we can't control what our AD partners do with them once they're out the door." I guess it's okay for them to take that position if they're still selling everything they make, but it's still frustrating for most buyers. But it's also up to the buyers to start looking elsewhere. So far it doesn't appear that buyers are doing that, but maybe Rolex releasing this statement indicates at least a hint of worry on their part.
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Up to buyers looking elsewhere? Where are we supposed to look? Grey Mkt? Really?
This is a brand issue going back some time....Rolex put it's ADs in a bad spot; it controls all aspects of the sale and now Rolex is just deflecting responsibility.
I've never thought Rolex was purposefully suppressing supply, but the official attitude seems to be "we're making them as fast as we can, but we can't control what our AD partners do with them once they're out the door." I guess it's okay for them to take that position if they're still selling everything they make, but it's still frustrating for most buyers. But it's also up to the buyers to start looking elsewhere. So far it doesn't appear that buyers are doing that, but maybe Rolex releasing this statement indicates at least a hint of worry on their part.
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Up to buyers looking elsewhere? Where are we supposed to look? Grey Mkt? Really?
This is a brand issue going back some time....Rolex put it's ADs in a bad spot; it controls all aspects of the sale and now Rolex is just deflecting responsibility.
He meant "other brands." You can buy just about any Omega you might like. More people just need to start doing it.
I've never thought Rolex was purposefully suppressing supply, but the official attitude seems to be "we're making them as fast as we can, but we can't control what our AD partners do with them once they're out the door." I guess it's okay for them to take that position if they're still selling everything they make, but it's still frustrating for most buyers. But it's also up to the buyers to start looking elsewhere. So far it doesn't appear that buyers are doing that, but maybe Rolex releasing this statement indicates at least a hint of worry on their part.
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Up to buyers looking elsewhere? Where are we supposed to look? Grey Mkt? Really?
This is a brand issue going back some time....Rolex put it's ADs in a bad spot; it controls all aspects of the sale and now Rolex is just deflecting responsibility.
He meant "other brands." You can buy just about any Omega you might like. More people just need to start doing it.
ahh-- other brands--thanks for the clarification...
I've never thought Rolex was purposefully suppressing supply, but the official attitude seems to be "we're making them as fast as we can, but we can't control what our AD partners do with them once they're out the door." I guess it's okay for them to take that position if they're still selling everything they make, but it's still frustrating for most buyers. But it's also up to the buyers to start looking elsewhere. So far it doesn't appear that buyers are doing that, but maybe Rolex releasing this statement indicates at least a hint of worry on their part.
-------------
Up to buyers looking elsewhere? Where are we supposed to look? Grey Mkt? Really?
This is a brand issue going back some time....Rolex put it's ADs in a bad spot; it controls all aspects of the sale and now Rolex is just deflecting responsibility.
He meant "other brands." You can buy just about any Omega you might like. More people just need to start doing it.
ahh-- other brands--thanks for the clarification...
Yes other brands. Hat tip to Jacob for the assist.
There are always multiple ways to read something - my read re: rolex not doing anything about it is they see the AD problem as a temporary one. Namely, they’ll handle distribution in house entirely soon. The next few years will surely be interesting!
There are always multiple ways to read something - my read re: rolex not doing anything about it is they see the AD problem as a temporary one. Namely, they’ll handle distribution in house entirely soon. The next few years will surely be interesting!
I hope you're right, but even the boutiques pull the same bullshit. It's not like Rolex is going to move to brand owned/operated AD setup so there's always going to be a supply chain intermediary potentially screwing things up.
There are always multiple ways to read something - my read re: rolex not doing anything about it is they see the AD problem as a temporary one. Namely, they’ll handle distribution in house entirely soon. The next few years will surely be interesting!
I hope you're right, but even the boutiques pull the same bullshit. It's not like Rolex is going to move to brand owned/operated AD setup so there's always going to be a supply chain intermediary potentially screwing things up.
I think there’s a reason rolex did not invest in its own boutiques the way omega and breitling and Richemont did - I think they see a future in online sales. Why embrace an interim when you can leapfrog it. And rolex is one of the few brands with the brand reputation to get someone to spend 5 figures without qualm.
That’s just my read though - many other possibilities exist.
They own their supply chain already. Just cut out the AD middle man, and have DHL and FedEx continue to ship and fulfill their orders D2C.
Assuming a company can afford the start up costs for direct sales (and I’m sure Rolex can), I would think this is the way to go. It’s (a lot of) found money. Omega charges MSRP on their website. So full retail price is what they’re making rather than wholesale.
They own their supply chain already. Just cut out the AD middle man, and have DHL and FedEx continue to ship and fulfill their orders D2C.
Assuming a company can afford the start up costs for direct sales (and I’m sure Rolex can), I would think this is the way to go. It’s (a lot of) found money. Omega charges MSRP on their website. So full retail price is what they’re making rather than wholesale.
They also eat the risk of overstocking. Not a problem for ROLEX but I bet IWC would prefer to shift that risk to an AD network.
That assumes these guys don’t us buyback contracts.
I've never thought Rolex was purposefully suppressing supply, but the official attitude seems to be "we're making them as fast as we can, but we can't control what our AD partners do with them once they're out the door." I guess it's okay for them to take that position if they're still selling everything they make, but it's still frustrating for most buyers. But it's also up to the buyers to start looking elsewhere. So far it doesn't appear that buyers are doing that, but maybe Rolex releasing this statement indicates at least a hint of worry on their part.
I don’t think they are suppressing supply at all, it is just that demand has gone up dramatically with wealthy people popping up in newly industrialized nations. Rolex simply refuses to scale up production to meet demand… and remember they are owned by a nonprofit so they have no shareholders clamoring for growth.
I respect them for not bowing to market pressure and growing supply, but the way they are handling their dealer network is borderline unforgivable.
They own their supply chain already. Just cut out the AD middle man, and have DHL and FedEx continue to ship and fulfill their orders D2C.
Assuming a company can afford the start up costs for direct sales (and I’m sure Rolex can), I would think this is the way to go. It’s (a lot of) found money. Omega charges MSRP on their website. So full retail price is what they’re making rather than wholesale.
They also eat the risk of overstocking. Not a problem for ROLEX but I bet IWC would prefer to shift that risk to an AD network.
That assumes these guys don’t us buyback contracts.
That’s a good point. Always better to have money now than later if you over-produce. I don’t know about buyback contracts. I’m assuming Rolex doesn’t use them because they’re Rolex, but I wonder whether that’s true across the board.
They own their supply chain already. Just cut out the AD middle man, and have DHL and FedEx continue to ship and fulfill their orders D2C.
Assuming a company can afford the start up costs for direct sales (and I’m sure Rolex can), I would think this is the way to go. It’s (a lot of) found money. Omega charges MSRP on their website. So full retail price is what they’re making rather than wholesale.
They also eat the risk of overstocking. Not a problem for ROLEX but I bet IWC would prefer to shift that risk to an AD network.
That assumes these guys don’t us buyback contracts.
That’s a good point. Always better to have money now than later if you over-produce. I don’t know about buyback contracts. I’m assuming Rolex doesn’t use them because they’re Rolex, but I wonder whether that’s true across the board.
I know Richemont destroyed a bunch of watches a while back. I don't know if that was stock that ADs wouldn't take from Richemont, or stock that Richemont bought back from ADs who couldn't sell it, but it ended up as scrap and parts.
I doubt Rolex wants, or needs, to do a single thing different. They sell every watch they make and the AD’s are required to pay them for whatever shows up in the box when delivered. Then the onus is on the AD’a to sell those watches however they want (including out the back door?). Kinda a win/win for both parties. Sucks for the watch enthusiast, but no reason to fix what isn’t broke for Rolex.
The reality is many Rolex purchases are online today. Consumers either go to grey market online dealers or search remote AD’s who might have the desired model. In either event, the transaction is conducted online.
That said, I still think luxury watch buyers would prefer a “buying experience” with some in-person ass kissing to reinforce their buying decision.
If I were running Rolex, I’d probably implement a hybrid model, with “boutiques” established where buyers could try on sample models, have their bracelets sized, and act as customer service starting points (to ship watches to regional service centers).
Boutiques would have no stock to sell. All purchases would be purchased online.
FWIW, I think COVID is another influence on this,I’ve making sense. Many folks my area are still hesitant to go browse inside a small store like a jewelry shop.
Years ago I was told by the owner of a local well known jewelry chain that they’re loss leaders anyway, and that the real money is selling that 2ct diamond ring for her in conjunction with the watch for him. I also remember his tone being very bitter towards Rolex as if he really couldn’t get inventory and was tired of their shit. Makes sense. I agree that it’s a temporary problem for them in that they’ll eventually sell by boutique only.